


Elevator Game

by seanced



Category: CROSS GENE
Genre: Gen, Like, Lots of it, Urban Legends, tw blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-12-26 05:46:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18277010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seanced/pseuds/seanced
Summary: The consequences of a Korean urban legend turn Wonho’s life to shambles.





	Elevator Game

**Author's Note:**

> background information/how to play the elevator game https://pastebin.com/iezYq3Bu
> 
> based on the story of an anonymous writer

I’m not a superstitious person at all. Hell, I stopped believing in the supernatural a long time ago. However, when my best friend introduced me to an urban legend from Korea: the “elevator game,” my skepticism would soon turn against me.

“I’ll send you the instructions and everything. Want me to tell you what I’ve researched?” he persuaded.

I gave him a light smile. “Takuya, I already told you I don’t believe in that kind of stuff.”

“Wonho, listen to me. I’ve tried it before and absolutely nothing happened. I don’t know if I did it wrong or not, but my life was still the same every day after that.” Takuya said, before hesitating for a moment. “I know you don’t think any of this is real, but if I was wrong, you get bragging rights.”

I raised an eyebrow. How could I say no to Takuya? Besides, it seemed satisfying to brag to him whenever I could. “Fine, I’ll do it. Send me instructions as soon as you can.” Takuya’s eyes lit up as he pulled out his phone. His thumbs moved faster than I’ve ever seen them. Sure enough, my phone vibrated not even a little while later, with an extremely long text from him. “Did you compile this yourself?” I asked.

Takuya let out a small, breathy giggle. “I tried to give you what everything I saw had in common so you wouldn’t do it wrong.” He pulled out his phone again, and sent me something else. “I also sent you directions to the nearest hotel, so you can get to an elevator. I think this one has about twenty floors, and the highest floor you need to visit is the tenth. And this one’s not too busy either, so you should be good on taking the elevator alone.”

I skimmed over the instructions for the game while Takuya was talking, and I could feel my eyebrows furrow out of habit. “Takuya, are you sure you should be agreeing to this?” There was no way I knew my best friend would agree to something that could potentially get me stuck in some other world, with no knowledge of getting out. 

“Okay, I did all the steps correctly and I still got out alive. I never even got to visit the other world, but still. I promise you I’ll come to the hotel if you text me that something’s wrong.” Takuya said.

“All right, I’ll do your stupid challenge.” I said with a smile. “You’re lucky I don’t believe in this shit as much as you do.” I turned away from Takuya and drove off to the hotel.

*******

I arrived at the hotel at last. The sunset had finished, and the clear, starless sky sported a dark blue. The hotel’s automatic doors parted as I braced myself for what was to come. The darkness worked to my advantage as most people in the building were asleep. The coast was not completely clear though; the receptionist was scanning the area, looking for anyone who might cause trouble. Though I probably looked like no threat to the hotel’s safety, I tried my best to avoid eye contact both with the receptionist and the security cameras, in order to perform and complete the ritual in as little time as possible.

I opened Takuya’s directions once more. “Enter the first floor by yourself.” I pressed the elevator button for the lobby, permitting it to light up a pale yellow at my fingertips. The sound of the elevator whirring grew closer, until it came to a halt. The doors parted to reveal a mirrored room colored with hues of dark brown and gold from the tile floor. There was no one exiting except an older-looking man walking hurriedly out of the elevator. At last, it was my chance to enter.

Takuya’s directions read, “Press the button for the fourth floor.”

I waited a while to see if the elevator would ascend, if anyone had pressed its buttons. Nothing. My hands began to shiver in the elevator’s cold and compressed environment, before I tapped the button. The whirring faded in once again, giving my body the feeling of vibrations from the floor up.

The elevator dinged, and the doors split. The silvery doors revealed a pale blue wall with a narrow white stripe. The walls were clean, almost looking brand-new, as was the tile floor using the same pattern as the elevator’s. All was silent except for the soft whir of the air conditioner, and I did not dare break the silence.

The lonesome feeling of the elevator became more prevalent as I set my eyes on Takuya’s instructions. “Press the button for the second floor.” The sixth floor followed, then the second again, then the tenth. There seemed to be a growing quiet the farther into the ritual I was. It was almost unnerving, how the sound was fading; this was my sign there was no turning back.

“Press the button for the fifth floor.”

As soon as that button lit up, I became infatuated with the details of the elevator. There were mirrors everywhere except where the door was. They were so clean and clear as well, considering I knew the hotel was not new at all. The tiles were so shiny and pristine that I felt bad for so recklessly stepping on them.

The elevator stopped vibrating, and the doors split again. This time, I heard the soft footsteps of a young woman. I watched as she walked in and stood in the corner opposite me. Then, it dawned on me.

The woman.

I turned away immediately. Takuya’s directions had told me this woman was not human, and to never acknowledge or interact with her with her. The reflective elevator posed a challenge, as she was everywhere I looked. I had to try not to let my curiosity prevail and look at her. I did, however, see she was blonde, with bright green eyes and prominent freckles, and she was much shorter than me.

I pressed the button for the first floor as I clung onto my hope that she would not try to talk to me. I could not afford to end the ritual now.

“Excuse me, sir...” She had a honeyed voice, but it sounded so ghostly, almost emotionless.

Don’t look at her.

“There’s been an accident on the fifth floor, and I was wondering if you could come and help me.” 

Don’t look at her.

“Sir?” Her tone changed, and her voice sounded more brittle, yet angrier.

Don’t look at her.

“Hey, fucker. I know you can hear me, bastard.”

A shock went through my body. The hairs on the back of my neck were erect. It took all of my willpower not to speak back. I stared at my feet the whole time trying desperately to drown her out. She swore and screamed at me for a solid minute before she went completely quiet. No, it wasn’t just her. All of the sound in the elevator disappeared. I breathed a sigh of relief, until I heard muffled sobbing.

I held my breath, for it was so soft at first. Soon, the sobbing turned into loud crying. My back was still turned to the wall, and the shaking had spread down from my hands to my legs. She cried with such intensity; I could not afford to give her acknowledgement. The wet sound of her crying echoed throughout the otherwise silent elevator. 

She started screaming now.

She screamed like no one I had ever heard before. Her voice sounded so tortured, and the echo of the elevator only made it sound more frightening. Again she screamed, but this time it was bloodcurdling enough to make the hairs on my arms stand up. A chill ran through my whole body, and my knees started to tremble. 

The woman went back to loud crying after that. It felt as if the elevator had stopped, even I could feel it still moving. I had no chance to look at the level I was on before her crying continued.

I couldn’t take it.

I could feel myself losing my mind as she kept screaming. Her already rough voice became more and more croaky as she pushed me further off the edge. I wasn’t supposed to acknowledge her at all, but she was just so loud.

“SHUT UP!”

Hatred had possessed me as I violently turned towards her. I grabbed her hair and smashed her head against the elevator. The crack of one of her bones was not nearly enough to stop her nor me. No matter how much I mutilated her body, she just would not stop crying. 

“Shut up. Shut up, shut up....”

I could feel my voice getting weaker as I continued to yell at her. Her thick blood stained the otherwise clean elevator, and splattered my hands and clothing. Her cries became shorter and more spread out, and finally, she had gone quiet.

The shock of realization pulsated through me.

I had just killed someone.

The elevator was silent once again, so silent I could hear my own heartbeat throbbing inside me. I backed away into the corner, lamenting over what I had done. My life would crumble before my eyes if anyone eventually found out I had killed her.

I then heard muffled laughter coming from the supposedly dead woman. I stood to investigate it. I figured it would not matter, as I already disobeyed Takuya’s instructions to not interact with her.

The woman was in the fetal position, giggling to herself. Her once bright blonde hair was stained with blood. She stood as if I had never cracked her skull. I covered my ears as the heresy of her laugh pushed me further towards screaming again.

The elevator dinged. She started to get up, looking me dead in the eye, smiling for the whole process. Her contorted smile was almost mocking me as she got off the elevator just as a normal person would. I was still, with nothing to do but stare at her in fear. My whole body was shaking now, even more violently than before. I recognized where she was when she walked out of the elevator’s sight bloody. This was the hotel’s lobby. Takuya’s directions told me I was not supposed to be here. If I did the ritual correctly, I was supposed to be on the tenth floor. 

The elevator doors closed with a slam. I kept myself in the corner and pulled my phone out in case I needed to text Takuya. The elevator vibrated softly at first. I kept my fingers close to the lobby’s button as the vibrations loudened. The button did not light up when I pressed it. I tried again, and again. No reaction. I desperately banged on the button, hoping to get any reaction at all.

The elevator’s vibrations intensified. I pounded on the doors, hoping someone would hear and help me. I screamed for help, but to no avail, as it did nothing but echo throughout the elevator. Then, the elevator picked up speed and ascended.

My stomach dropped, and my heart beat out of my chest. I felt like I was riding a rollercoaster from hell. I tried to press as many of the buttons as I could, but they were all dead. I started to sob as I heard the elevator creak from moving so fast. 

Just as soon as it started, it stopped. The elevator read the number 10. I was on the tenth floor. It was still nighttime, so the air conditioner was the only thing making noise. My hands were shaking faster now. I cautiously pressed the button for the first floor. The button lit up, to which I sighed in relief. The elevator moved down and opened at its normal speed. I looked around for the receptionist, but the desk was empty, as was the lobby. 

Was I in this other world? I know I failed the ritual, but it just felt so odd to me. My car was still outside, as were some others. I pulled out my phone and dialed Takuya’s number.

“Yeah?”

I breathed in. “Hey, Takuya.”

“Wonho! Are you all right?” His tone changed and his voice deepened a bit.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll tell you everything when I get home.”

“Please.” Takuya paused. “Get some rest, all right? Tell me what happened tomorrow.”

“Good night, Takuya.”

*******

I started having recurring dreams after that.

I opened my eyes to find myself fully dressed in a room of the hotel. I wore the same clothes as I was last night. I was able to move around and look at my surroundings, and it was exactly like the patterns I saw looking out of the elevator; the walls and floor were as clean as before. The window outside was dark, with only a dim, pale red light outside. 

I thought to myself: should I follow the light or explore? Whatever happened if I follow the light, I knew I was dreaming and would wake up soon. I walked to the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor. My face started to sweat as the elevator moved slowly down. The doors split to reveal the lobby looking exactly how it was before the ritual, with some changes. No receptionist, absolutely no noise, not even the air conditioner.

Behind the automatic doors was the same dark, dead-looking setting, but the light was gone. At that moment, I woke up no longer in the hotel, but in my bed with the blankets kicked off, shivering and tired.

The morning sun illuminated my window, shining straight in my eyes.

Was I still in the other world?

I checked my phone for the time: 7:45 a.m. It was too early to start the day, but I knew I could never get myself back to sleep after the dream. I forced myself out of my bed to drape a towel over my half-naked body and take a quick look outside of my door’s window. Everything looked normal as always: the birds were there to sing in the sun, and my neighbors were out in a crowd talking.

I opened the door to look outside and see if everything was all right. My feet touched the rough, concrete ground outside of my house as I walked with small steps. I reached the sidewalk, which gave me a good field of vision to see the details of my neighbors’ familiar faces.

There was one face that seemed a little too familiar.

It was that of a shorter woman, with blonde hair and bright green eyes.

I thought I was just tired, that the exhaustion was making me see things. The hairs on the back of my neck were already standing. I rubbed my eyes and tried to focus on her face, but it was too late. She had already disappeared into the crowd.


End file.
